Yukue
by binbokusai OL
Summary: Shimura Tae, class president and captain of the girls' kendo team, is sick of Kondo Isao's relentless stalking. What else is there left to do but blackmail his right hand man into helping her stop him? 3Z-gumi universe. High school romance cliches ahead. Chapter 5: The Rooftop Cliche! Always a staple setting in high school romance!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Iyaa...I suddenly had this feeling like I wanted to write a typical high-school-romance fic. So this is going to be like, I don't know...full of high-school cliches, chocolates on Valentine's Day/White Day, asking for a button from your senpai's shirt...gahahaha. Inspired by Baseball Bear's Wakamono no Yukue's MV. **

**Yukue**

It was a normal day for the students of 3Z. That is, it wasn't normal at all.

Ginpachi-sensei stared at his students. Something was off.

"I want to begin with homeroom..." he mumbled out loud. "But something is not right..."

"Sensei," Kagura, the exchange student from China, raised her hand. "Kondo-san and Hijikata-san is in the nurse's office aru."

"Ahhh...so that was it," Ginpachi-sensei nodded at Kagura. "Thank you Kagura-san. Now let's begin with cl-"

"Sensei, don't you want to know why they are there?" Shinpachi interjected.

"Well, it's because they're sick, aren't they?" Ginpachi-sensei brushed it off. "Now let's see-"

"Sensei, they were fighting in class before you got here and they got injured!" Yamazaki helpfully brought him up to date.

"That's really something I didn't care to know," Ginpachi-sensei retorted. "You bunch have so many disciplinary issues already. No need to -"

"They were fighting over Shimura-san!" another student randomly called out.

Ginpachi-sensei's vein throbbed. "I don't care! Shut up all of you! We're starting with homeroom!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_The previous week..._

"You again? Please give up," Shimura Tae said coldly. as she put away the various equipment littering the dojo from that afternoon's kendo practice. "I have absolutely no intention of going out with your captain."

"I know," Hijikata Toshirou said from where he was standing at the hall's doorway, a tall, lean but broad-shouldered figure still clad in the school's dark blue kendo training uniform. "I'm just following orders. He asked me to give this to you." He held out an envelope to Tae's back.

"I have no interest in it," Tae replied as she finally put away the last bokuto. "Please throw it away."

"Throw it away yourself," Hijikata looked around for somewhere to place the envelope, eventually placing it on a nearby bench. "See ya." He turned around to leave.

"Wait, Hijikata-kun."

He stopped and turned. "Eh?"

Tae was looking at him as if something had just clicked. "Are you...free? Now?"

"Now?"

"Yes. Do you mind accompanying me for a while?" Tae tilted her head and smiled.

Hijikata sweatdropped. "Iie...actually, Kondo-san is waiting for me. We're-"

"Tell him you have an appointment." Her eyes glinted. "Now."

Hijkata weighed his options. It was true that he was not someone who was normally pushed around. But Shimura Tae, captain of the girls' kendo club, was not someone to be trifled with. He had seen her victims. Plus, he could never bring himself to hit a girl, which almost certainly meant he would be killed as he would not be able to fight back.

"...fine."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I've been thinking," Tae said conversationally, as Hijikata dug into his mayo-don, "This is getting really annoying."

"Ya don't say," Hijikata said, his mouth full.

"We're already high-school seniors..." Tae said wistfully, resting her chin on one hand, "...and the Nationals are coming soon..I don't have time to spare, figuring out why my things go missing, clearing my locker which is filled with useless gifts - in other words, getting your idiotic Gori-captain off my back."

Hijikata twitched. "Be that as it may, but he's still our captain. Please don't disrespect him, Shimura-san."

"My point exactly," Tae carried on, without missing a beat. "The way things are going, the relationship between our girls' and boys' teams will only get worse. This isn't good for the Nationals."

Hijikata paused, to give it some thought. "Fair point."

"Therefore, Hijikata-kun, if I can ask you..." Tae now turned to him, her large brown eyes sparkling, "to help me think of how to get Kondo-san to give up on me, or to stop stalking me - well, basically to stop stalking me - wouldn't that be good in the end?"

Hijikata wasn't surprised; he had a feeling it was coming to this. "I'm sorry, Shimura-san. You're asking me to move a mountain here. I can't do that."

"Well, by yourself you certainly can't. But if we work together, I'm sure we can think of something. Don't you?"

"Frankly, no. I mean, what in the world can either or even both of us do to change Kondo-san's mind?"

"Hijikata-kun..." Tae suddenly changed her tone, "did you know? Kyuu-chan's family owns Yagyuu Enterprises."

Hijikata sweatdropped. "The whole class knows that, Shimura-san. I mean, it's a bit obvious from the surname, isn't it?"

"Yagyuu Enterprises controls the supply and distribution of condiments in Japan. Did you know that?"

"Well, yeah...I heard something like that..." He certainly had. It was yet another reason why nobody dared to mess with Shimura Tae. Her best friend was, after all, not only captain of the both the girls' and boys' karate team (she was that good), she was also the only daughter of the influential Yagyuu family. "So?"

"If I tell Kyuu-chan to make it so that you..." Her voice was still syrupy sweet, but steely eyes glinted amongst the brown bangs hanging over her forehead. ".._never.._ever get your hands on a single bottle of mayonnaise..."

Hijikata froze.

"I wonder how it would be?" Tae asked in a sing-song voice. She looked back at Hijikata, an evil smile on her face.

Hijikata could feel himself breaking out in cold sweat. _No... mayonnaise?_

"You...you wouldn't dare," he uttered.

"Oh really? Sa...Hijikata-kun. I think once we find out whether I dare, or don't, it'll be too late, won't it?" Tae nonchalantly sipped her strawberry milkshake.

Hijikata pushed away his mayo-don.

_How bad could it be?_ He wondered to himself._ I mean, Kondo-san would definitely kill me if he knew...but he doesn't have to. And_ _on the off chance we succeed, I__ wouldn't have to be his deliveryman anymore. And like Shimura said, it _will_ be good for the kendo teams to have a normal working relationship. It's difficult to work together when the captain of the girls' hates the captain of the guys' team because he stalks her 24/7._

_And... _His eyes strayed to the bottle of mayonnaise sitting innocently some way away from him. _I can't live without mayonnaise!_

He turned to Tae, who was now humming to herself, smiling slyly and looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"...fine."

Tae brightened and held her hand out. "Let's shake on it. Deal?"

Hijikata warily took her hand and tried not to grimace at her iron grip as they shook on it. "Deal."

tbc

**A/N: Sorry dears...it's just to satisfy my ahh-koukou-natsukashii mood...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I love my reviewers. Thanks you guise!**

**Chapter 2**

Hijikata yawned.

History class. A boring period if there ever was one.

Actually, Hijikata was fine with history. But the teacher - Hattori-sensei - spoke in a soft, monotonous voice, putting even the most enthusiastic student to sleep. Hijikata found his thoughts wandering.

"Okay, so these are your assignments for today. Can the class representatives please distribute them."

Tae and Kondo both stood up. As Tae walked past Hijikata's table, she nonchalantly dropped a piece of paper on his desk and continued to walk right to the front of the classroom, resolutely ignoring Kondo who was taking the chance to grin sappily at her.

As Tae and Kondo busied themselves in distributing the assignments for their respective sections - Tae for the students on the left side, Kondo on the right - Hijikata took a quick look round the classroom. No one had seemed to notice what Tae had done in their sleepy stupor, so he quickly unfolded the note she had dropped.

_Girls' kendo clubroom. Lunch. _

"Sumimasen, Hijikata-san."

"H-hai." Hijikata quickly jammed the note in his pencil case. Taking the stack of worksheets Shinpachi was holding out to him, he proceeded to pass them to Kyuubei, who sat behind him. As he turned back to face the front of the classroom, his eyes momentarily met Tae's, who was returning to her seat. Without missing a beat, she looked away and breezed past him back to her seat.

Hijikata stole a glance at his kendo team captain, also returning to his seat.

"Okay, so finish this over the weekend and hand it in to me on Monday," Hattori-sensei announced. The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson - and lunch period.

"Hai," the class chorused, and immediately broke into chaos as everyone proceeded to forget whatever they had learnt and think about what to eat and who to hit on during lunch period.

"Toushi!" Kondo, as usual, made a beeline for Hijikata, Okita close behind. "Let's go!"

Hijikata stole a quick glance to his left, where Tae sat diagonally behind him. She was already walking away with Kyuubei and the gang of girls that made up her posse.

"Um...Sorry, Kondo-san," Hijikata got up. "I...have an appointment. With ...Sensei."

"Eh?" Kondo exclaimed in surprise, while Okita stared at him. Hijikata was sure that he was betraying himself in some way or another because he was a crap liar. But he had no choice. "See you guys later." Before Kondo or Okita could say another word, he hightailed it out of the classroom.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Hijikata looked around. The building where the club rooms were was fairly deserted, but he wasn't taking any chances.

When he was satisfied that no one was watching him, he quickly dashed to the sports and games' section, heading straight to the kendo girls' team clubroom. The door was closed.

Hijikata took one last quick look around and raised his hand to knock.

Just before his fist made contact with the door, the door opened suddenly.

Hijikata blinked as his fist stopped about a millimetre from Tae's forehead.

Tae glared at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Hijikata stared back at her. "Knocking. The door, I mean. Sorry." He withdrew his fist, and Tae stepped back to let him in, still scowling.

_What a great start, _Hijikata couldn't help thinking. _It would have been kind of satisfying to knock her head though. Bet no one has ever managed to do that before. Ha ha-_

"Hijikata-kun, what's so funny?"

That wiped off the half-smirk on his face. "N-nothing." He sat himself down on the benches in the middle of the small but neatly kept room. "Why are we here?"

"To discuss our plans, of course." Tae sat down next to him and proceeded to unwrap her own bento.

Hijikata withdrew his bun from his pocket and tore open the wrapper. "I know, but why here?"

"I'm the only one who has the key to the clubroom," Tae explained. "I've locked the door so no one can walk in and find us here."

_Good thinking, _Hijikata thought. _I definitely do not want anyone walking in on us at any point in my high school life. _"So?" He took a big bite out of his bun.

Tae got up. Grabbing a marker, she drew a female and male stick figure on the small whiteboard in front of them, proceeding to scribble Kondo's and her name below.

"The problem is," Tae intoned, "Kondo-san has fallen for me." She drew an arrow from the Kondo-stick figure to Tae's stick figure.

"Did you fail art?" Hijikata asked her.

Tae glared at him but ignored the comment. "So I figure...we can do this." She drew another stick figure next to her own. "If I became unavailable...Kondo-san would give up on me. Wouldn't that be the case for a guy?"

Hijikata thought about it and shook his head. "Nope. Not at all. If I liked a girl, and if she got a boyfriend, sure I'd be depressed but I don't think I'd stop liking her. Which is why..." Dumping his half-eaten bun on the bench, he got up and grabbed the marker from Tae. He drew another female stick figure next to stick-figure-Kondo. "What we need, is to get Kondo-san to forget about you. We need to distract him with another girl."

Tae made a small 'hmph' sound. "Hijikata-kun, I think you're forgetting something."

"What."

"It's me that Kondo-san has fallen for."

Hijikata raised his eyebrow.

"Do you really think that there is a girl in this school capable enough to divert his attention from me?" Tae started to count on her fingers. "I'm the class rep. I have great grades. I'm the captain of the kendo team. I'm kind, and cute."

"He definitely didn't fall for your humility," Hijikata deadpanned.

That got him a good uppercut to the jaw. "Just stating facts. Also, what girl would fall for him?"

That set Hijikata thinking. _She does have a fair point, _he mused, as he rubbed his bruised jaw.

"So," Tae continued as Hijikata fell silent, "we should go with this plan." She knocked the marker against the her stick-figure boyfriend.

Hijikata stared at her. "And where are you going to find a boyfriend?"

Tae stared at him. "That's easy. Who else could it be?"

Hijikata stared at her.

She stared back.

Slowly, Hijikata brought up a shaking finger to point at himself. "You...you can't mean...me?"

Tae grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Good! It's settled."

"Whoa whoa, hang on!" Hijikata held his hands out in a wait-you've-got-to-be-kidding-me signal. "Are you crazy? Do you want to get me killed? I'm Kondo-san's vice-captain in the club!"

"I know."

"So? This will completely ruin not only our friendship, but the team will be destroyed! And we haven't even reached the Regionals yet!"

Tae waved him away. "Details, schmetails." She plopped back down on the bench. "You'll figure it out, Hijikata-kun. You always do!"

"What?" Hijikata was half-panicking, half-incredulous at the situation he was in. "No! Get someone else!"

"Who?" Tae raised an eyebrow.

Hijikata stopped to think. "Yamazaki!"

"No. If we make our circle bigger it would make things complicated."

"No it won't," Hijikata retorted. "Isn't involving me worse? Yamazaki is at least in the badminton club. If Kondo-san hates him nothing will change. You're putting the whole kendo team at stake here, Shimura!"

Tae glared at him. "Excuse me? Me, Shimura Tae, go out with Yamazaki Sagaru? The most utterly boring and plain guy that can be found on the face of this earth? I've got standards, Hijikata. A reputation to uphold."

Hijikata fell back down to the bench and clutched his head. "I'm done for."

"Hijikata-kun." Tae looked down at her lap, and then looked up to meet his eyes. "Am I... really that bad?"

Her question jolted him temporarily. "E-eh? I mean...well..." Hijikata looked into her questioning brown eyes, staring straight into his metallic blue ones.

_Chocolate, _he randomly thought.

At that moment, the club room door opened. Hijikata and Tae froze.

"...Shimura...taichou?"

From the doorway, a black-haired pigtailed girl clapped her hand to her mouth in shock at seeing the captain of the girls' kendo team and the vice-captain of the boys' team sitting together, staring into each other's eyes. In the club room. Alone.

"Hanako-chan?" Tae's chopsticks clattered to the floor.

Hijikata gaped at her. "I thought you said you locked the door!"

Right at the same moment, both realised how ill-timed the comment was.

"I'm sorry for intruding!" Hanako cried out and ran, slamming the door shut behind her.

Hijikata's eyebrow twitched. "We're done for."

Tae looked pale, but she calmly bent down and picked up her chopsticks. "Guess there's no arguing about it then. If Hanako is going to go round thinking that we're a couple and spreading it, we might as well just keep up the act."

"Yeah, and at the same time, guess I'll quit the kendo team," Hijikata muttered, picking up his half-eaten bun.

"Don't be silly. It'll work out."

"Yeah right."

"You're on the basketball team too anyway. You might as well concentrate on that."

Hijikata glared at her.

"All right, I'm sorry," Tae gave in. "But maybe it will do for the time being. Until we can figure out who we can hire to make Kondo-san forget about me, anyway." She suddenly brightened up. "Like a two pronged attack!"

Hijikata didn't even bother to respond as he stared dully at his poor bun, bidding farewell to high school life as he knew it.

"As Kondo-san becomes depressed over the news that I, Shimura Tae, is now unavailable..." Tae was off and running now, "he will run into the first pair of arms that comfort him. Then he'll eventually forget me!"

Hijikata just looked at her silently. Tae leaned forward and flicked his forehead.

"Stop looking like that!" Tae stood up. "Lunch is almost over. We better go."

"Yeah." Hijikata got up and trudged to the door. "See ya."

"Hijikata-kun!"

Wordlessly, he turned back round.

Tae gave him a thumbs-up sign and a sparkling grin. "In exchange for losing your spot on the kendo team and all your friends, I will be the best girlfriend ever!"

Hijikata groaned.

tbc

**A/N: Fluff is coming. Lots and lotssss of it. Get ready to get diabetes, people. **

**This is actually pretty similar to a fic that I once read that isn't on , unfortunately...where Hijikata is basically being forced by Tae to pretend to be her boyfriend or something. I ripped the idea in order to give myself an excuse to write tons and tons of high school fluff (I can't imagine how else they would get together really). Do look for that fic if you can. Awesome read although it's unfinished.**

**Another thing to my readers - it is likely that I will slow down on my other fics. I'm the kind of person who writes depending on what I'm inspired by (actually who isn't?) so because I'm so caught up with high school romances currently, I might be writing a lot of Yukue. But don't worry. Those fics are definitely not dead yet and I'm trying my best to come up with something that I'll be happy with. I don't publish until I'm completely satisfied (who does?)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi guys…a little announcement. I am currently in peak season (I have to process about 800 forms by this weekend, and that is just ONE deadline) and I'm working overtime as it is. My other fics are still works in progress. If you're wondering "then why does she have time for this one" – I wrote drafts some time ago and just needed a quick proofread before I sent it along. Plus, I have to admit this fic is becoming a bit of an obsession. **

**Episode 3**

The weekend flew past, as it did for all high school students.

For Hijikata however, it felt like it flew by especially faster. In fact, the weekend skyrocketed right past him. Before he knew it, Sunday night was staring him in the face.

He had spent the entire weekend holed up in his room, trying to do his homework, occasionally watching TV or surfing the net. Kondo had called him up asking if he wanted to hang out, but he made up a convenient excuse about helping his mom with household chores (He didn't.).

Sunday night found Hijikata Toushirou desperate and depressed.

Over the weekend, various thoughts plagued and tortured him. Kondo's reaction was first and foremost on his mind. Should Kondo believe that he, Hijikata Toushirou, his most trusted right-hand man (whom he had forced to deliver 90% of all love letters and gifts to his object of his affections - the other 10% was delegated to Okita Sougo), had 'betrayed' him by now dating said object of affections - Hijikata could only shudder in picturing Kondo's rage, not to mention the disappointment and hurt that he would cause his oldest and closest high school friend. (Although he had to admit, it was almost akin to retribution for making Hijikata the go-between in his pursuit of Tae against his will.)

_But what kind of guy goes round stealing another guy's girl?_ Clutching his head as he lay sprawled on his bed, Hijikata groaned for the 5832th time over the weekend. He would not have a single friend left in high school. The kendo team would throw him out for 'betraying' their captain.

Hijikata contemplated, also for the 5832th time, whether there was any way in which he could weasel himself out of the death agreement that he had apparently bound himself to. He could beg. He could threaten suicide. He could find dirt on Tae and blackmail her.

_Yeah, right._

Hijikata grabbed a pillow and pressed it down to his face, groaning.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Monday morning was cool with clear blue skies. Exactly the opposite of how Hijikata felt.

With trepidation, Hijikata trudged towards the school gates. _This must be what a hitman's target feels like, _he though randomly and dejectedly, almost expecting to have a bokutou or some kind of weapon angled towards his neck at any second.

Somehow or other, however, he managed to make it to his shoe locker, and his classroom. As he slid the door open, the whole class fell silent.

"Oi, Hijikata-san."

Hijikata turned to stare at Okita and braced himself.

"You look like shit. What were you doing? Didn't sleep the whole night?"

Relief hit Hijikata, washing over him like a welcome shower after a grueling kendo practice. If he didn't hate Okita so much he would have hugged the little red-eyed sadist. _I'm still safe! _he thought, as he tried to come up with some response that made sense.

Kondo appeared out of nowhere and joined in the let's-stare-at-Hijikata party. "Sou da na, Toushi," he commented, staring with full concentration at Hijikata's dark circles and puffy eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Hijikata sweatdropped. No doubt this concern would not last as soon as Kondo found out that his trusted Toushi was "dating" his beloved Otae-san. "Yeah...I'm fine. Just...a lot of homework." _And a lot of panic and guilt, _he added silently._ Guilt does do that to you - keep you up all night long. _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Ne, Hanako-chan! Are you listening?"

Oryou and Hanako were in the girls' loos, Oryou touching up her hair, while Hanako stood around restlessly waiting. School had let out for the day, and both girls were whiling their time until their respective after-school club activities - Hanako was in the kendo team, while Oryou in _sado_.

"E-eh?" Hanako was jolted out of her stupor by one glaring Oryou. "I'm sorry! ...what were you saying?"

Oryou gave her a Look. "Out with it, Hanako-chan. I know you're worried about something."

"No!" Hanako blushed. "I can't say it...gomen, Oryou-senpai."

"Heee? Aha! I know!" Oryou clapped her hands gleefully. "...you have a crush on someone!"

"Nooo!" Hanako protested vehemently. "It's not me, it's Shimura-taichou - oh no!" Hanako clapped her hands to her mouth.

Oryou froze. "...what?"

"Nooo! Don't ask me! I can't say it!" Hanako cried, holding her hands up to her ears.

"Fine, fine, I get it..." Oryou scowled as she continued to brush her hair.

"I saw Shimura-taichou and Hijikata-kun in our club room last week! Alone!" Hanako blurted out.

"HEEE? MAJI DE?" The exclamation reverberated all around the loo walls.

"Kyaa!" Hanako pounced on Oryou, covering her mouth to stifle her scream. "SSSSH!" Looking around, Hanako quickly checked the cubicles, making sure they were the only ones in the loo; Oryou followed suit when she had gotten over her initial shock. When they were satisfied, Oryou dragged Hanako to a corner of the girls' loo. "Which club room? What were they doing!"

Hanako clutched Oryou's shoulders. "You have to promise to keep it a secret! You can't tell anyone! Not a single soul!"

"I promise I promise!" Oryou hissed. "Quick, tell me! Before anyone else comes in!"

Throwing one last look at the door, Hanako lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "They were in the kendo girls' clubroom! I left my water bottle behind the day before and I went to go take it. When I opened the door...I saw Taichou and Hijikata-kun sitting on the bench together! Just the two of them!"

"HEE! What were they doing? Were they..." Oryou's eyes bugged out, "k-k..kissing?"

Hanako blushed furiously. "NOOO! They were just sitting there."

Oryou rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Nani, Hanako-chan. That's not interesting at all. They were probably discussing the Regionals or something. Or maybe Hijikata-kun was there because of Kondo-san, like always."

"Hmm...I guess..." Hanako trailed off. "Although ...I did think that...they looked like they were about to kiss..."

"Heee?" Oryou now clutched at Hanako upon hearing the sudden shift in events. "How do you know?"

"Well...right after I opened the door, Hijikata-kun said," Hanako scrunched up her face, trying to recall his exact words, "'I thought you said you locked the door!' or something like that..."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"And they were about to kiss!" Oryou hissed.

"Hee? Really?" Even Tama, who was normally unfazed by anything, turned to look at Oryou, ignoring the tea that she had half-brewed in front of her.

"But you MUSN'T tell a single soul, Tama-chan! I'm only telling you because you're from another class and another club and it won't hurt to tell someone who doesn't have anything to do with Otae-chan. It's just that, I can't stand not telling anyone! ...Ne?" Oryou held up her hands in a begging motion. "Don't tell a single soul!"

"Understood!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"A second-year, Hanako-chan, saw Shimura Tae, the captain of the girls' kendo team, and Hijikata Toushirou, the vice-captain of the boys' kendo team, kissing in the kendo club room!"

"Seriously? Hmph," Catherine continued to wipe the newly-washed coffee mugs stacked in front of her. Both she and Tama were on their late evening shift at Snack Otose, a small cafe where they worked part-time after school. " But doesn't the kendo captain have like a public crush on her? Was it...Kendo or Kondo...I can't remember. Some other guy in the same class."

"I guess this is what you call...a subordinate and his superior fighting over the same woman, isn't it? Just like a television drama?" Tama speculated, as she continued to sweep the floor around Catherine.

"Ch'. Stupid third years." Catherine didn't hide her disgust.

"Um. Catherine-san is also a third year."

"Shut up."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"3Z's Shimura Tae and Hijikata Tae are a couple!"

"No way!"

"Some second-year saw them making out in the store room! Really!"

And so it went.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Kondo-san. It's been a while."

"Oooh, Itou!" Kondo turned and waved at Itou Kamotarou, captain of a rival kendo team from another school. Itou's team had lost to Kendo's in the National finals the year before. "I certainly haven't seen you for a long time. How have you been? Imagine running into you here."

"Same here." Itou allowed Kondo to enter the ramen shop before following suit. "Back from kendo practice?"

"Yeah. Kendo practice really does make one hungry...I feel like I could eat 10 bowls of ramen right now!" Kondo enthusiastically stretched as he took a seat. "Ikumatsu-san! 2 bowls of beef ramen please!"

"I thought you said 10 bowls?" Ikumatsu asked drily as she nodded at Itou, who had taken the seat next to Kondo.

"Iya, if you or Itou would treat me, of course!" Kondo turned towards his rival captain. "What about you, Itou? Anyway, what are you doing here? It's pretty far from your school, isn't it?"

"Chicken katsu ramen please," Itou ordered, before turning back to Kondo. "Well, I was settling the paperwork for the Regionals...what about you? Have you submitted the forms to the association?"

"Ma, you know," Kondo scratched his head, smiling sheepishly, "Toushi takes care of all the paperwork, for us. Ah, what would we do without him..."

"Indeed." Itou pushed up his glasses. "He is quite the capable vice-captain. Isn't he a basketball team regular as well? Of course, your basketball team isn't as accomplished as the kendo team...but I heard they got to the Nationals last year."

"Yes, of course! That's my Toushi!" Kondo said proudly. "He can do everything and anything! I couldn't have asked for a better vice-captain…"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Do send my regards to Hijikata-kun and everyone else. We look forward to competing with you at the Nationals again this year."

It had turned dark by now. Both Itou and Kondo were both ready to part ways in front of the ramen restaurant.

"Same here. I bet you're looking forward to dueling with Toushi again...since you're both rivals."

"Of course," Itou smiled, but his expression remained serious. "Tell him I'm going to beat him for sure this year. Oh, and since we're on the subject of Hijikata-kun, tell him that I'm surprised he got a girlfriend. An unfriendly guy like that? I never thought it of him."

"Ahahahaha of course! Toushi- wait, what did you say?"

"Eh? You didn't know? Hmm..." Itou knitted his eyebrows. "That's strange. Well, maybe I'm wrong then."

"Iya, well.." Kondo was still reeling from the shock revelation. "Wherever did you hear that...?"

"Well, I don't really like to gossip, but..." Itou pushed up his glasses, clearly relishing the moment, "Just that while I was waiting for the train just now, I was standing behind some of your school mates and they seemed to be saying that Hijikata and somebody was a couple..."Itou shrugged. "Maybe it's another Hijikata. I'm pretty sure they said 3Z's Hijikata Toushirou though...vice-captain of the kendo team...but I could have heard wrongly..."

Kondo laughed, but unconvincingly. "Hijikata, get a girlfriend! I'm sure it's just some crazy rumour. Besides I'd be the first to know if he ever got one."

"Of course, unless he was hiding it from you for whatever reason," Itou said serenely.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing," Itou put his hand up in greeting. "See you around then, Kondo." He turned to leave.

"...Itou. Wait."

"Yes?" Itou turned around again.

"Who did they say...was his girlfriend?" Kondo asked, trying to keep a straight face. "I mean, even if it _was_ just a rumour."

"Hmm...What was the name..." Itou frowned. "Shinobi? No. Sorry, I really can't remember."

"Oh." Kondo narrowed his eyes. "Okay."

Itou cocked his head, thinking. "I did remember they mentioned that she was the kendo girls' team captain. Can't remember who that is though. Anyway, I'm late. Gotta go." Itou gave a final parting wave and hastened away.

Leaving Kondo staring blankly at him.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Hijikata stared at his cell phone. "Ah. The battery's dead."

He had just reached home, after the rather long detour to the national kendo association's office. Rummaging around for his charger, he plugged his cellphone in and proceeded to sprawl onto his bed.

"Toushirou! The bath is getting cold!"

"Haaaaaaai," Hijikata answered his mother, and promptly fell asleep.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Hijikata walked into class. He was unexpectedly early. No one was in class, except for a handful of people - Kagura the Chinese exchange student, Shinpachi who sat in front of him, and Yamazaki.

"Osu," he muttered as he made his way to his class. If he had been more alert, he would have noticed the strange looks his classmates were giving him. But he was too sleepy to notice.

Hijikata promptly dumped his bag on the floor and proceeded to rest his head on his arms, deciding that there was time for a little nap. As more classmates proceeded to trickle in, Hijikata slowly dozed off.

He was just about to fall into a deep sleep when -

"Hijikata-kun."

"Mm?" Hijikata lifted his head up, rubbing his eyes blearily. It was Tae, holding something out to him.

"Here. I made this for you. Please eat it."

The whole class fell quiet. Hijikata froze, staring blankly at the bento box prettily wrapped in a cherry-blossom patterned cloth being held out to him.

Right at that moment, Kondo Isao stepped into class.

Witnessing his beloved Tae handing a handmade bento to his trusted Toushi.

**tbc**

**A/N: Hellzzzzzz yeaaaaaaaa. Now, I was just thinking. If I could make this into live action, I'd go for Nakamura Aoi for Hijikata (I love him) and the girl from Q.E.D. as Tae. Cos the hair is kind of similar. Ha ha ha! Admittedly there are probably other people who resemble them more, though. **

**You know, this fic is unexpectedly more popular than I had expected. I guess people reeeeeally like 3Z-gumi huh? I like it okay, it's just that since I've been in a highschoolromance! mood lately... don't think I'd have written it otherwise. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Still stuck on my other fics oh my God. **

**Anyway, the fluff begins!**

**Yukue 4**

"Toushi..."

Kondo was staring at him and the offending bento box. His expression was unreadable.

Hijikata was at a loss for words. Not that it would have made a difference anyway, as without warning, Kondo sprang towards him, with a strangled cry.

"How could you!"

As the girls of the class screamed and the boys (some of them) cheered, Kondo hauled the shocked Hijikata up from his seat, pushing the tables and chairs away, and delivered a good punch to the still in-shock Hijikata.

"Stop it!" Tae tried to pry the two boys away. Startled by the sound of her voice, Kondo let go, promptly propelling Hijikata to the floor where Hijikata took a table and some chairs with him.

Books and random materials crashed down towards Hijikata from the impact.

"What's going on here!"

The entire class froze. Standing in the doorway was Tsukuyo-sensei - their Mathematics teacher, as well as the teacher-in-charge of both kendo teams.

Tsukuyo took one look at the scene - Hijikata lying on the floor amidst the rubble of fallen books and whatever else - and Kondo, arm still somewhat drawn in a punching stance.

"Hijikata, Kondo. Come with me. Now." Tsukuyo snapped.

Wordlessly, Hijikata scrambled up to his feet, trying to ignore the stares from his classmates, and stalked out of the class behind Kondo.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Explain." Tsukuyo glared at the two students standing in front of her in the nurse's office.

Neither Kondo nor Hijikata uttered a word. Tsukuyo sighed impatiently.

"So close to the Regionals. Do you seriously want me to kick you off the team? I don't know what happened in there, and I really don't care. You sort it out on your own and I don't want to hear any more trouble from you or any other kendo team member. Shake hands."

Kondo and Hijikata stood still.

"Now," she snarled.

Reluctantly, Kondo and Hijikata shook hands for about a millisecond before quickly letting go, without even as much as a sliver of eye contact. It was more a handslap than a handshake, but Tsukuyo decided that she would take what she could get.

"Now where is this nurse of ours..." Tsukuyo looked around the small nurse's office, but it was empty. "I should really drop a word about her to the school administration. Anyway, the two of you." She peered at the two students, then looked at her watch. "It's not serious, so treat yourselves. You know first aid, right? I have to go back to class. I'll be speaking to Ginpachi-sensei about this. And mind you, if you ever stir up any trouble like that, be assured that I'm not going to let you off lightly."

"Yes ma'am."

"Yes ma'am."

"That's all. Get back to class immediately after you're done here." With a last warning glance, Tsukuyo-sensei walked out.

Now that he was somewhat over the shock of being attacked, Hijikata immediately looked to Kondo. "Kondo-san-"

"I don't want to hear anything from you." Kondo started towards the doorway of the office. "We may still be on the same kendo team. And you're still my vice-captain. But from now on, our relationship remains as that only." With that, he stalked off, slamming the sliding door shut behind him.

Stung, Hijikata sank onto a stool.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Hijikata-kun?"

Hijikata slowly looked up from where he was sitting. He had no idea how much time had passed since he had spaced out in the nurse's office by himself.

Standing at the doorway was Tae.

"Oh. What are you doing here?" he asked dully.

"Ginpachi-sensei asked me to bring you both back to class," Tae replied, entering the nurse's office.

"Aa," Hijikata muttered. "Well...Kondo-san's not here."

Tae looked around. "...where's the nurse?"

"Saa."

Tae let out an impatient noise. Grabbing a stool, she placed it in front of Hijikata and sat down facing him. "You're bleeding," she stated.

Hijikata looked at her, nonplussed.

Reaching for the first aid kit, Tae rummaged around until she found bandages and antiseptic. "Why didn't you fight back?"

Hijikata forgot momentarily about Kondo-san's words. "Huh?"

"You were last year's district champion weren't you? You should have some kind of fighting instincts. Instead of fighting back you just took his punch. Are you a guy, or what? Or were you trying to act cool?" Tae poured antiseptic on a cotton swab and proceeded to dab at his cheek.

Hijikata winced. "Ow!"

"Don't be a baby." However, she thankfully put the antiseptic away.

"...It happened really fast, and anyway...I have no intention of fighting with Kondo-san," Hijikata mumbled.

"Mm." Tae was now wadding up some bandages.

"Because we're...friends."

Tae held a wad of bandages to his cheek. "Here. Hold this to your cheek."

"..Aa." Without thinking, Hijikata brought his hand up, and inadvertently covered Tae's, which was currently holding the wad of bandages to his cut.

At that moment he realised how close she was sitting to him. She had leant in close to attend to his injury, such that he could actually see his reflection in her huge, brown eyes, which were now focused on treating the cut on his cheek.

Blushing, he immediately looked down - and regretted it, as he now found himself looking at her long, smooth legs. Mentally, he cursed the girls' school uniform for being so damn _short. _

Tae, not noticing anything, had let go and now turned back to the first aid kit, looking for another piece of bandage. As she did so, Hijikata valiantly tried to empty his mind, trying to ignore Tae's bare knee barely brushing against his inner thigh as she continued with whatever she was doing with the first aid kit.

"So? Was he angry?"

Her question brought Hijikata back to the crushing memory of what Kondo had said to him before he left. "Of course. Obviously."

Tae cut a small piece of bandage and now looked for tape. "That sounds promising. This might actually work."

"Seriously, Shimura-san..." Hijikata cut in. "Couldn't you let me off just this once? I don't want to spend my senior high year in a war with Kondo-san, for god's sake. He's my friend."

Tae turned back to look at him.

Hijikata swallowed. He rarely said it, and it pained him to say it, but it pained him even more to think of losing Kondo's trust. "...P..please."

Silently, Tae applied tape to the bandage, her fingers cool on Hijikata's warm cheek. Her face was devoid of all expression.

"...one month."

Hijikata blinked. "...huh?"

"One month is all I'm asking." Tae started to pack away the materials she had removed from the first aid kit. "If he still hasn't given up on me by the end of one month, I promise. You can tell him everything, and I won't ask Kyuu-chan to deprive you of your mayonnaise."

Hijikata thought it over. "One month is too long-"

"No bargaining, Hijikata-kun. Take it or leave it." Fiery brown eyes now met cool metal-blue ones.

Hijikata buckled. "...fine."

"Great! It's settled then." Tae was back into sunny-mode. "Let's go back. Ginpachi-sensei must be wondering why we're taking so long."

"I seem to always end every chapter off being pushed around by you," Hijikata muttered as he got up to follow Tae.

"Huh?" Tae turned towards him.

"Nothing. Let's go."

**tbc**

**A/N: It's actually very difficult to write in English. I've been imagining their entire dialogues in Japanese and trying to put them back into English is a huge challenge...sigh. So sorry if it comes off weird. Try putting them back into Japanese if you can - I find it suits the atmosphere so much more! Haha! **

**I know it's short. Make the font bigger so that it seems longer haha! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello! I am still in that dreadful period called OT, and my boss is out of the country for the next 2 months, so work is very bad. But I got so tired of working that I thought, I'd like to take a breather. **

**Yukue 5**

**"**Otae-chan? Where are you going?"

Tae airily waved to her friends as she left the classroom. "Got things to do. See ya!" She disappeared, leaving her gang - Kyuubei, Oryou, and Kagura staring blankly in her wake.

"Well, I guess that's how it is," Oryou said to nobody in particular. "If Otae-chan has a boyfriend now..."

"But we didn't even know anything about it aru," Kagura protested. "If Ane-go liked that Hijikata no yarou how come we didn't even have a clue? Don't you find it suspicious?"

Oryou shrugged. "Maybe she just didn't feel like telling anybody?"

They both looked at Kyuubei, who was the closest to Tae. Kyuubei's expression was unfathomable as she unpacked her bento.

"Let's eat." Kyuubei sat down and put her hands together. "Itadakimasu."

"H-hai."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Ah! There he is," Tae exclaimed to herself softly as she spied his lone figure seated near the edge of the roof, staring off into space. Just as she was about to step past the doorway onto the roof, the target of her gaze - a certain tall, lean and black-haired someone - turned to stare at a familiar-looking bento box wrapped in a pretty cherry-blossom patterned cloth.

Tae stopped in her tracks and hid behind the doorway instead, watching him watch the bento box.

_He really is good-looking. _

Suddenly realising what she was thinking, Tae shook her head as if to clear it. _Tae! What are you thinking! He's only a pretend-boyfriend! _

_Still..._ Tae resumed pondering the cool good looks of one Hijikata Toushirou despite herself.

"What are you doing there," Hijikata drawled, still staring at the bento box.

Blushing slightly at being discovered, Tae stepped onto the roof nonetheless and stopped a little way away from him. "Found you."

"Why are you looking for me?" Hijikata picked the bento box up and started to unwrap it.

"I can't leave you friendless, can I?" Tae joined him, ignoring a happy skip in her heart as she watched him open up her bento box. "Since the whole world hates you. Except me, of course."

"Gee, I wonder whose fault that is," Hijikata muttered sarcastically as he started to eat.

Tae however, found herself more concerned about Hijikata eating her home-made bento instead of the comment he had just made. "How is it?" she asked.

Hijikata shrugged. "Terrible. But I've got this," he nodded towards his ever-present bottle of mayonnaise.

Eyebrow twitching, Tae repressed the urge to take the bottle of mayonnaise and empty it over his head. _After all, I _am_ the reason he's sitting here having lunch by himself, _she reminded herself. "You have basketball practice today right?" she asked instead.

"Yeah."

"Can I come watch?"

"No."

Tae glared at him. "Why not?"

"I won't be able to concentrate. Go do something else with your friends or something."

"Heeee..." Tae leaned in close, grinning. "I distract you?"

Hijikata gave her a Look. "No. It's just that, with the whole school awash with the news we are a-" he brought his finger up to imitate quotation marks, "-'couple', the basketball team will be a riot if they see you there. So please, don't come."

"Fine." Tae folded her arms. She hadn't expected a positive answer anyway.

"Go take a cooking class or something." Hijikata deadpanned. "This seriously sucks. OW!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Tadaima," Hijikata called out as he closed the front door behind him.

"Okaeri!" his mom called out.

Hijikata felt his stomach rumble as he smelt various smells wafting out of the kitchen. He dropped his bags in the hallway and followed the aroma to kitchen. "What's for -"

He froze.

Tae turned around and smiled sunnily at him. "Okaeri nasai, Hijikata-kun."

HIjikata's eyes bugged out. "W-w-what are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you tell me you have such a cute girlfriend!" his mother gushed. "And so nice too. She came and told me that she wanted to learn to make the food you like!"

Hijikata looked at her suspiciously. Tae smiled back at him.

"Go and get changed and take a bath please, Toushirou. Dinner will be ready soon."

Hijikata was still standing and twitching as he stared at Tae who had calmly turned back to help his mother.

"Toushirou! Stop standing there! Go!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu."

With some trepidation, Hijikata began to eat.

Tae watched him anxiously.

Hijikata looked at her. "It's better than your bento, but you somehow managed to make my mother's cooking taste off."

"Toushirou!" His mother glared at him, before turning to Tae, who was seated next to her. "Don't mind him. He always speaks what he thinks. Needlessly."

"It's okay!" Tae smiled and bowed her head. "I'm used to it."

_She means, she's used to it because she does exactly the same thing, _Hijikata said silently.

"So how long have you been going out? And why didn't you tell me about it?"

_Because we're not really going out? _Hijikata answered silently.

"A week!" Tae answered for him.

_Yeah. Let her spin her own stories, that way she'll be satisfied. _

"Ii ne, to be in high school..." his mother looked away wistfully. Hijikata sweatdropped. _This is a scenario I could never have dreamed off even if you spiked my mayonnaise with tequila or something. _"I wish Toushirou's brother was here. He would have loved to meet you. He's on a business trip right now...he often travels due to work."

As Tae and his mother happily chattered on, Hijikata glowered and tried his best to figure out Tae's motives.

Without arriving to any plausible conclusion.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I'm going for the town hall meeting now, so be good, okay? Make sure you take Otae-chan home later!"

"What?" Hijikata protested. "Why do I have to do that?"

"Well, she's a girl, isn't she?"

"Okaa-san, she's the kendo team's captain!"

"It's only good manners to make sure she reaches home safely!"

As Hijikata and his mother continued to argue about Tae's safety somewhere in the hallway, Tae idly looked around the living room. Seeing a few photo frames perched on a shelf, she got up to look at them.

"Oi. What time are you planning to go home? Aren't your parents worried?" His mother finally gone, Hijikata was now standing at the doorway to the living room.

"That is rude. Nope. My father works late. Is this you?"

Hijikata came over to join her. "No. That's my older brother."

"Oh. Okay."

"I'm adopted. All the baby pictures aren't me."

Tae looked at him, surprised. "Oh. I never knew that. Wow."

"They adopted me just before I went to elementary school."

Tae looked at the family pictures again. "Do you ever wonder about your real parents?"

"Not really. My parents did try to track my biological parents down for my sake but didn't manage to find them. But that's fine. I'm not interested. As far as I'm concerned, my real family is here."

"...I really like your mom."

"So do I."

"I mean, I don't have one."

Hijikata now stared at her. "Oh. Okay. Didn't know that. She passed away?"

"Yeah. When we were young. So I don't really remember her."

"...sorry."

"That's okay."

"By the way, why are you here? The real reason." Hijikata stared levelly at her.

"You heard your mom. I wanted to learn how to cook the things you like to eat."

"...The real reason."

"You sure are suspicious." Tae blew her bangs off her forehead. "Fine. I really needed a favour."

"Sure. Just stack them up while you're at it."

Tae ignored the slight. "Ginpachi-sensei said you topped our last Physics test."

"Yeah."

"Well...I..." Tae's voice dropped to a mumble. "Flunked."

Hijikata stared at her.

"And...you know, it's...I've never flunked anything before in my life."

Right. Shimura Tae, top of the class, best at everything. Flunking Physics.

"Why don't you just ask Ginpachi-sensei?" Hijikata deadpanned.

Tae stared at him incredulously. "No. Way. Firstly, people would find out!"

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "Why do you care so much what people think?"

"I have a reputation! If you accidentally pooped in your pants, would you want the whole world to know?"

Hijikata sweatdropped. "That kind of comparison is totally off!"

Tae ignored him (again). "So you'll do it?"

"What choice do I have?" Hijikata looked at the clock on the wall. "So what, you mean, like now?"

"Oh no," Tae also looked at the clock. "It's getting late so I better go. Maybe the weekend? I mean, I don't think either of us can do anything after kendo practice."

"Yeah, whatever." _Since I don't have any friends anyway, now. _"Sure. Let me get my stuff. I'll walk you home."

Tae stared at him. "Seriously?"

"Don't misunderstand. My mom will never let me off if I don't. She'd probably call you to check that I did."

Tae giggled. "Okay."

Hijikata left Tae in the living room and sped upstairs to grab his phone and keys on his desk.

"Wow! You're so neat!"

Eyebrow twitching, Hijikata turned around to look at Tae who had now entered his bedroom and was examining it with great interest.

"What are you doing here."

"That's cold, Hijikata. I'm your girlfriend. I've never seen a guy's room before."

"Fake-girlfriend. And you have a twin brother, how is that possible?"

Tae shuddered. "I don't enter his room. It's like Otsuu-land down there. He's crazy over her. You know Otsuu?"

"Vaguely. Can we go now?"

"Hai, hai." Tae took one last look, smiling a little to herself. Hijikata tried for what felt like the tenth time not to notice that Shimura Tae was actually really cute, and turning his thoughts to mayonnaise to regain his sense of self, he followed Tae out of the room, switching off the lights as he did.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Hijikata-kun...can I ask you something?"

Tae lived some streets away from Hijikata, a 20-minute walk. As they both lived in a residential area, the streets were lit, but deserted, with only the occasional salaryman or student hurrying home.

"Can I say no?"

Tae smacked his arm. "You only LOOK good, but your manners are terrible."

"Speak for yourself."

"Do you have someone you like?" Tae asked it casually, staring straight ahead.

Surprised, Hijikata looked at her. "What kind of a question is that?"

"I'm just curious. Since you know, I'm posing as your girlfriend...It's just something that I figure I should know, in case...I don't know...a lot of the girls like you and I bet you get chocolates or stuff like that on Valentine's Day, and a lot of love letters or something..." Tae realised that she was starting to ramble, but couldn't figure out how to end it.

"Well...yeah."

"...you sure aren't humble."

"I'm answering your question, you moron."

"Eh?" Tae stared at him in shock, completely surprised to hear an answer she had not been expecting at all.

tbc

**A/N: Oh dear! Tae, how could you, HIjikata likes someone already!**


End file.
